In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

THE INSURGENCY IN IRAQ – HOW LONG?

[Shamim A Siddiqi, New York]

The unfortunate Iraq is bleeding fast. The Nero of the modern age sitting in the Whitehouse is singing on his flute and his “empire” [Baghdad] is burning. Its sons and daughters are dying like “cats and dogs” on its streets. No body, in spite of tall talks, is caring for its dismantled infrastructure. No drinking water, no light and no sanitation are yet available to its teaming millions whereas billions of dollars are going down the drain every day in the name of “development” and fighting insurgency in Iraq. No peace, no security is in sight. Unemployment is rampant all around at an accelerated pace. The occupation cost of Iraq and Afghanistan has now reached to 300 billions but the end is no where in sight. How long the people of the USA will pay the price of the extremely foolish action of a President whose only concern is to make “the rich richer” and serve the interest of Corporate America. He is pursuing that cause “blindly” and busy day in and day out in persuading the people to transfer their savings for future to stocks, a “gain-place” for the rich to get richer and an ever loosing ground for the low-income investors. He is befooling the people both at home and abroad.

In spite of these enormous sacrifices of men and material within the country and at the “front”, insurgency in Iraq is on increase. Suicidal bomb attacks are frequent. Road side targeting on the military convoys are common and are regular targets of insurgency. Government offices, recruiting areas and religious places like mosques are being hit by suicidal attacks. Iraqi Shiia Muslims are currently paying a big price for their love for democratic process in the country and for the future that is still obscured. On the other hand the insurgency is becoming more and more sophisticated. The situation warrants going deep into the issue and finding out why there is no success in sight. Let us examine the “blunders” that have so far been committed by the occupying forces and why they are not learning any lesson from their past or from the history of insurgency elsewhere in the world both of the past and the currents in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Insurgency survives on the support of the people of the land. They hit the targets and then conceal or hide themselves as common people living within the country or the region where it occurs. If the people of the land are dissatisfied or discontented, it becomes the breeding ground for the insurgents. It is, therefore, essential that this common man’s support must be denied. It would be possible only when the democratic process is properly established by their people and for their benefit. Equally, insurgency will be marginalized when the people would feel contented, their common daily needs are fulfilled and the basic necessities of life are available without any risk of life and property. Occupied forces could not deliver any of these legitimate demands of the Iraqi people. So they have no choice but to side with rebels and provide them safe estuaries where a “foreign” government or its puppet regime cannot reach.

The prime most objective of the USA should and must be to deliver at least the minimum amenities of life to Iraqi people right through Iraqis and not through foreign or American contractors who are taken as “enemies” and thus are being targeted every now and then. The local indigenous contractors who know the local situation and the miscreants too can and will manage the situation more efficiently and deliver the requisite goods and services within the shortest possible time. The completing of the jobs that American contractors will take years, the locals will finish them within months. The deliverance of goods and services at an accelerated pace will immediately curb the insurgency, enabling the USA to prepare for their way back home. Will the corporate-oriented management of Bush administration listen to this simple device and get rid of the insurgency to a great extent? The agenda of exploiting the oil-rich resources of Iraq by the Corporate America must be abandoned forthwith by the USA, if it is at all interested to get the issue of insurgency resolved in right earnest, failing which both Iraq and America will pay a big price in gradual process

However, the total end of insurgency in Iraq depends how the USA handles the burning issues of Palestine, Kashmir, Syria, Iran, Pakistan, Chechnya, Central Asia, Sri Lanka and the entire region of Middle East and North Africa. America mishandled each of them, supported the despotic undemocratic rulers, and unwisely became party to different hegemonies being promoted by Moscow, Delhi, China, and Sharon against the common people of these lands. They are suffering like a “hell” and assertively pointing towards the USA for their age old sufferings. The USA has turned a deaf ear to their grievances. So they have no choice but to “rush” to Iraq to take their “revenge” by offering their skeleton “jobless” bodies to be “used” as “bombs” or “missiles.” The stubborn attitude of Dr. Rice is aggravating the situation further and she has no idea what seeds of hatred she is sowing all over the world against Uncle Sam

So, it would be in the interest of the USA to change its foreign policy and strategies and make it everywhere pro-people and fight for the restoration of a genuine democratic process and human rights. It would have a far reaching effect not only in Iraq in sub-siding the insurgency but will go a long way in improving the image of the USA abroad as the champions of human rights. The counteracting of the insurgency in Iraq is conditional and mostly depends on how far the Whitehouse and Pentagon are ready to forego the vested interest of the Corporate America. If not, the insurgency will continue in Iraq and Afghanistan one way or the other for long and for an indefinite period.

Shamim A Siddiqi

April 24, 2005